But as the navigator effort gets under way across the country, it is clear that their impact will vary from state to state, with wide discrepancies in how much will be spent to hire and train navigators and how many people they will be able to reach.
More than $5bn would be spent to to deliver training for 850,000 people.
Even so, those improvements represent only a small fraction of the billions of dollars being spent to update subway signals, replace train cars and build a Second Avenue subway line.
"Ratepayers and union members alike have the right to know if 40 million public dollars have, in fact, been spent to improve worker safety and training," Feuer said.
After a $500 million, two-year effort to create a new Afghan Army produced a force of only 6,000 soldiers, the United States is spending $250 million to train up to 40,000 police officers under Mr. Jalali's command.
It could be spent on training, to provide workers with needed skills, or job search services to help match workers and jobs.
The Pentagon is spending billions to train the Afghan forces to secure the country.
Britain, the former colonial power in Sierra Leone, is spending $40 million to train security forces in the country and has plans to supply them with some weapons, Mr. Greenstock said.
The United States has been preparing to release about $400 million in aid for Mexico's drug war, to be spent on training and on helicopters and other equipment.
